McCarthy slides into lead at Milton Martin Classic

Daniel McCarthy backed up his first-round 70 with a 3-under 69 in the second round of the NGA Tour’s Milton Martin Honda Classic on Friday to take the clubhouse lead at 5-under par.

McCarthy, a former a former Le Moyne College standout from Syracuse,N.Y., posted four birdies and one bogey at Chattahoochee Golf Course in the second round of play and finished the day one stroke clear of Seth Fair when play was suspended due to darkness late on Friday afternoon.

Fair, a former All-American at the University of Indianapolis, also shot a 3-under 69 in the second round of the Milton Martin Honda Classic. Fair, of Fishers, Ind., posted six birdies and three birdies on Friday to reach 4-under par for the event. Both Fair and McCarthy are searching for their first win on the NGA Tour.

After holding a share of the first-round lead, Will McCurdy of Auburn, Ala., slipped into a tie for third with an even-par 72 in the second round. The former University of Auburn stalwart is 3-under par and tied with Stephen Grant of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. Grant was still on the course when pay was suspended.

Warner Robins’ Chris Wolfe, who also held a share of the first-round lead, posted a 1-over 73 in the second round to slip into a tie for fifth with rookie Trent Whitekiller at 2-under par. After shooting a 2-under 70 on Thursday, Whitekiller, an Oklahoma State alumnus from Sallisaw, Okla., carded an even-par 72 on Friday.

Jack Newman, the 2008 U.S. Public Links champion, shot a 2-under 70 in the second round to move into a tie for seventh with Kent Bulle (72), Andrew Medley (71) and Will Mitchell (72) at 1-under par.

The second round of the Milton Martin Honda Classic will resume at 7:45 a.m. on Saturday and the third round will start shortly thereafter. As always, admission is free to the public.

The NGA Pro Golf Tour is the No. 3 Men’s Professional Golf Tour in the United States after the PGA and Web.com Tours and is the No. 1 recommended developmental tour by more PGA and Web.com Tour Professionals. The NGA has helped hundreds of professionals acquire their PGA Tour, Euro, Web.com, and Champions Tour cards. In fact, NGA alumni have won 15 “Major” Championships.